Embodiments of the present invention relate to electronic game tournaments, and in particular, to creating online multiplayer game tournaments based on artificial intelligence.
Amusement devices having electronic games such as blackjack and poker variation card games for computers and touch screens or other types of amusement devices are generally well known in the art. Amusement devices, such as game machines, which allow a user to select games from a video display are well known in the art such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,787 (“Itkis”); U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,717 (“Houriet, Jr., et al.”); U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,799 (“Houriet, Jr., et al.”) (the entire contents of all of which are incorporated by reference herein), each of which shows a touch screen for making a game selection from a menu of games. Such game machines or amusement devices typically operate upon input of currency (i.e., coin, token, paper money, credit/debit cards or the like) and are installed in locations such as bars, restaurants, airports, shopping malls, video arcades, casinos or the like. The game choices may include card games, sports games, games of skill, games of chance, action games, trivia games or the like. Such games may also operate on mobile devices.
A popular type of gaming is tournament play, where instead of playing against a computer program, two or more players compete against each other over a predetermined amount of time (e.g., one month, one week, or the like). The tournaments typically operate with a predetermined prize fund and prize award structure. Thus, such multiplayer tournaments offer players the opportunity to play against each other for increased prizes until the tournament ends.
These tournament games may oftentimes require a player to strategize in order to achieve higher scores, and potentially, win a prize. However, some regulatory agencies (national, state or local) have “gaming” regulations which require that electronic games which award prizes be based on some element of skill. Since most electronic games, such as card games, have an apparent “random deal,” they are generally categorized as games of chance.
The definition of chance varies among municipalities. For example, some states consider a game to be a game of chance if a “preponderance of skill” does not contribute to winning. For a majority of municipalities, a game having a preponderance of skill is a game in which a player who is considered highly skilled will win over an average player at least 75.1% of the time.
In some municipalities, chance is determined by an existence of a “material element”. A material element exists if there is an element of game play that is material to the success of the game that is driven by chance. An example of a game that has a material element is Backgammon. In Backgammon, a roll of the dice is a material part of the game, and the player cannot control its outcome. Accordingly, in municipalities that use the “material element” test to determine if a game is a game of chance, Backgammon would be considered a game of chance because of the material element of the die roll.
Another material element is a lack of equivalent fairness. In a game with equivalent fairness, each player has an equal opportunity to win the game. For example, card games are oftentimes based on a shuffling of cards. The shuffling of cards is usually based on a random number seed. Each seed corresponds to a uniquely shuffled deck of cards. Some seeds correspond to deck shuffles resulting in easier game play, and potentially higher scores than other seeds. Therefore, it is possible for one player to receive, for example, more difficult seeds of game play than another player competing in the same tournament. Consequently, the game would lack equivalent fairness.
It is desirable to create a multiplayer tournament of an electronic game that is at least partially based upon player skill, by at least having equivalent fairness so as to comply with gaming regulations.